Nyla
by Jinxypie
Summary: A normal girl's life is turned upside down and around when she is betrayed by her father. He gambled her away to a man who's from her favorite cartoon show. Now she has to fight to find her place in this odd world with surprises, secrets, and dragons.
1. An Obsession and A Betrayal

A.N: I've already written this story a long time ago and this is actually a rewrite of it, and this is much more detailed and stuff, so. I'll be updating every other day and I hope you like this first chapter of Nyla, An Obsession and A Betrayal. Enjoy!

**D H**

It starts as a normal day for me.

Nyla Isley Broke.

I quickly got through my last class in school, which was of course math. The one subject I loathed. I had gotten the worst teacher for it too, he seemed not to understand the concept of mercy.

After school I said goodbye to my best and friend, Grayly, then I got into my mother, Donna's, van.

My brother, Jeremy Dolan Broke, kept poking me about my childly obsession that showed. I had an obsession with a cartoon that wasn't quite popular in the US, or in any country for that matter. Though it was a French cartoon, it wasn't very popular. I have no idea why though, I found it very interesting.

It was called Dragon Hunters, it was about a small team of two guys and a small doglike dragon, hunting down large dragons for money. Well, Gwizdo, my favorite character thought it was all about the money.

Gwizdo had shaggy dark brown hair though it was almost always under a light brown pilot's hat and pale blue eyes.

He talked mostly in slang and an accent though he was a contract writer and he had some quotes. Probably my favorite thing about him though was his little gap between his two front teeth.

He was greedy, witty, smart, a scared-y-cat, and also my current crush. Yeah, yeah, I had a crush on a guy that doesn't exist, laugh it up, go ahead.

My second favorite character was Hector, which was the small dragon that helped the two guys. He had light blue fur and brown eyes, he had his own language but I thought could pick up some swear words in the jumbled mix, he was also very hot-tempered though he calmed it most of the time.

My third favorite character was Lian-chu, he was the second guy and he was the one who actually killed the dragons.

He had long silky black hair that was always in a ponytail and black eyes, he was always very peaceful, although he didn't read he was always very punctuated. Which was odd because Gwizdo was the one who read and he had a lot of slang and such, probably because of that cute little gap between his teeth.

I probably liked Gwizdo because of our personalities, they were practically the same, which I found weird.

I loved writing, he did too. He loved money, I would do _almost_ anything for it, if it was the right price. He talked with slang, I did too. He had a lot of ego, I had a lot of it too, mostly confidence which actually I was right about. I liked to make stuff, like gadgets and such, he liked to too. I mean, he made a working airplane!

I had brown hair like him too, but it was longer and it was naturally frizzy, most of the time wild as the jungle. I had different color eyes, well, actually they were different shades of brown, the left was honey while the right was chocolate. I had a small frame because I didn't eat much, possibly because of my father. Jack.

No one would know it from looking at me but my father wasn't the best person, first of all he had a gambling problem. Which living just a few miles away from Las Vegas probably didn't help much.

He usually gambled on high stakes which meant we didn't have a lot of money, which left me to basically fend for myself. Though my father often beat my mother, he left my brother alone, and even more often picked on me.

He verbally abused me more then physically, but still, it hurt. Whoever said: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me". Obviously had one hell of a life.

When we got home I opened the van's sliding door and got out. I was wearing a faded orange hoody that had the words; "Dragon Hunters. Best in the whole floating world." On the back in blue.

Then I was wearing dark blue skinny jeans that had a patch on the end of the left leg and one on my right knee. Next I was wearing sneakers that were a muddy brown in color, on the bottom of the right one it said in small letters; "holy creep-a-roni!" That I wrote on.

I also was wearing a pilot's hat much like Gwizdo's except it was black instead of brown. I had my ears pierced and I had little earrings that were in the shape of an old fashioned books, they were made of hard metal and locked tightly in my ear.

I walked into the house while my mom and brother went for a walk, they always went on a walk after they picked me up from school and before Jeremy's bedtime.

I went up to the second story level, my room was blue with clouds around it was the Dragon Hunters' world, I had drawn the team. Also I had drawn floating islands, which was their world, I added in some dragons too.

I laid down on my bed and took out my journal from my secret place, I had ripped open one of my stuffed animals and put it inside it. I had wrote in it everything about Dragon Hunters, about it's world. I often daydreamed about having a life there, I would be a dragon hunter too, I already knew how to fight. I flipped through the elaborate drawings of the dragons, each unique in their own way.

Then I heard a hard knock on my door, which had a Gwizdo poster from the movie on it. "It's open." I said, the door opened to reveal my father behind it. "Hey, Nyla. Wanna go for a ride with me? I'm going to the store." He said, though he was abusive, he was still nice when he was sober and won his gambles.

I nodded. "'Kay, lemme grab my stuff." I said, I grabbed my dark brown messenger bag that had about a million pockets and put my dragon hunters journal in it, just for good luck. I also liked to keep it close, though I had forgotten it that school day.

I got in my dad's beat up truck and slammed the door behind me. He got in and started the engine. We passed the houses and buildings, but then we passed the store. I looked over at my dad, confused.

"We jus' passed da store." I said cautiously, I started worrying about whether he was actually drunk, or if he was taking me somewhere else. "I know." Was all he told me, my eyes widened.

I tried to open my door but he had put the child lock on, I then dug my hand into one of the pockets of my messenger bag and pulled out a small swiss army knife. "I wouldn't use that if I were you." My dad said, I looked up and he was holding a gun to my temple.

I dropped the knife.

We soon came to a lifeless land, the outskirts of the city we lived in. We were on dirt roads, I looked around myself, my dad still had the jet black gun pointed straight at my brains and I started to see a small house. More of a shed really, it was just there, in the middle of nowhere.

I looked over at my father. "What is dis about! Why am I 'ere? Talk, ya bastard!" I shouted, it wasn't unusual for me to swear so violently, often though the words just slipped out. He jammed the gun into my skull.

"Stay quiet, you little bitch!" He swore back, he often called me names and it didn't phase me often. The truck stopped and he forced me out, he stuck the gun in the small of my back and I walked towards the house.

A man came out of the old looking door, he was wearing an all black suit that seemed from old times. Like Dragon Hunters times. I glared at the man, I knew bye instinct he wasn't good. Also he looked like a classic bad guy in a crappy movie.

"This is her?" The man asked. "Yeah, this is her. Now, I wanna know is what you're gonna do with her?" My dad asked, I looked back and forth from them. I just prayed to God this man wasn't going to rape me, or molest me, or kill me.

"Jus' need some extra hands 'round the house. If you, ever get the money you can take her back home. But for now, I'm gonna be taking her." The man replied. My honey and chocolate eyes widened, I knew now, he had betted with me.

Me, his only daughter, though he hated me. How could he just gamble me away like I was just another one of his chips? My dad pushed me with the gun over to the man, who grinned pervertedly at my body, I narrowed my eyes and slapped him hard across the face. I didn't care that he seemed like he was in his mid forties, and I was only twenty.

"Ugh, feisty, isn't she? What's your name, kid?" the man said. I rolled my eyes, like hell was I gonna say anything to him. He said he was owning me, like a slave? Well, he's gonna have a mute slave now.

"Izzy, jus'. Izzy." I said, first of all. I didn't want this guy to know my name, second, Izzy was a pretty cool nickname. It came from my middle name, Isley. "Izzy? What a weird name, it fits a slave." He said, I growled low.

He then took me by the shoulder and pulled me towards the shed, I then realized it wasn't a doorway at all, it was a swarming black mass. I felt like I was in a cartoon or something, I planted my feet firmly on the ground.

"What is dat?" I asked nervously, the man chuckled. "Our way home." Was all he replied, and pushed me into the black mass.

I screamed, everything was black. Then I felt fuzzy, like that way you feel when you know you're foot's falling asleep. Or when you put your hand near, but not on, your t.v screen. I stopped screaming and I felt like I was falling. _[Is dis it? Am I gonna die? Oh, Lordy, please no. I don' wanna die!] _I shouted in my mind, then I saw a light. A cartoon light? What the hell?

I was soon rolling over myself on tickling grass, I opened my different shade eyes.

Cartoon.

Everywhere.

Dragon Hunters styled cartoon.

I felt my mouth open and go slack while my eyes watered from not blinking. "Hey, Izzy. Get up and get ta work." I spun around, the man was standing in front of a building.

The most ugliest building I had ever seen, it was faded yellow and mud brown with rust spots all over it. I stepped into the dark of the building, all the while thinking.

_[Lord, help me.]_

**D H**

A.N: I hope you liked it, and just tell me if you did, I'd appreciate it! Thanks for reading!


	2. A Slave, A Dragon, and Zoria

A.N: Second chapter, thanks if you R&Red, I appreciate it and I love all you readers! Enjoy the second chapter, I know things are going a bit fast, but I hope you don't mind. Have a good reading in A Slave, A Dragon, and Zoria. Don't own Dragon Hunters, only my OCs, and the plot. Thanks!

**D H**

It took a while for me to get used to my sudden change of life, and dimension. Basically, every way of life I knew for as long as I could remember.

I looked at myself in the cracked mirror that was in my new room. I was a cartoon, and even though I still had my own looks I looked extremely different. It was very strange that my looks were portrayed in a drawing style.

Small frame, check. Honey and chocolate color eyes, check. Long extremely freaky unruly hair, unfortunately, check. Brown messenger bag that I didn't let anyone touch without getting a fist in their face, with my knife and Dragon Hunters journal inside, check. Black pilot hat that I never took off except at night, check. Dark blue fingerless gloves made from someone's old jeans, check. Yep, I was definitely becoming a cartoon character. Because I was wearing the same things, every single freaking day.

I hadn't really talked to anyone since I had gone to the Slave House, as they called it. They, meaning the other slaves there. It was a Slave House, that man, everyone called him Mr. Lime.

He sold slaves to anyone who wanted one, and had the right amount of money in their pockets. I hadn't gone onto auction yet, because Mr. Lime apparently wanted to beat me up a bit before sending me out to the stage.

I only had one friend who I talked to, and only her, Rain.

She had the straightest black hair I'd ever seen in my life, and light blue eyes. We had met one night when I was sneaking into Mr. Lime's basement, I had heard from the other slaves that he had some extra parts there to a lot of different things.

She of course, had followed me. She said she was looking for some yarn, she apparently liked to crochet. I hadn't told anyone my real name, well, only Rain. She had swore to keep it secret from the other slaves. I was content with Izzy and that's what she called me.

I often daydreamed about Gwizdo and the others being out there, killing dragons, trying to pay off their inn fee for the angry Jeanneline.

Then one day while I was doing just that, Mr. Lime came into me and several other's room, he came and grabbed me. I didn't struggle but quickly grabbed my messenger back as he dragged me through the cold dark halls. It had my journal, my hat and pocket knife in it, it also had a quill and small inkwell that had a lid that I had snitched off of one of Mr. Lime's assistants.

We finally came to the auction room, and my eyes widened. I was being sold today, sold for a price. I felt like a possession, and to them, I probably was just that. I soon found myself on a stage, with Rain. We were lined up, and one by one we were sold to the people in the crowd.

Me and Rain were the last ones, me being the very last. When she went up I couldn't bear to see who bought her, all I was thinking about was her face, it was red like she had been crying. Which, I had been sure she had been.

She stepped off and went towards whoever bought her, I followed her with my eyes as she went to a man with grey hair and dark brown clothes. Mr. Lime pushed me up the stairs that I stumbled on, I stood in front of all those people.

I looked down while Mr. Lime told everyone my name was Izzy and I was an exceptional worker though I didn't say anything. The bids started, almost no one raised their hand to bid for me, but I didn't care. Then finally I was sold to a man, the same man that bought Rain. I tried not to smile when I saw Rain, if they saw it then they might say we were too happy and beat us.

We went out of the Slave House, I felt the cold air on my face, I hadn't felt it for thirteen years. I was thirty-three now, I felt so old though I was so young and innocent still.

Thirteen years of hardly speaking had taken some tole, there was only one person I talked to which was Rain and even when I talked to her it wasn't much. I had a hard time at first not to shout, or swear, or just mumble to myself. When I was in the normal world I would be something of a chatterbox, and a geek, but a cool geek.

One that people are always going to for answers because I give it to them, yeah, I helped people cheat. They were only going to fail anyway, I gave them the power and they chose how to use it, even though they were failing their minds.

The man who had bought me and Rain surprisingly had a sky ship, well, if you could call it that. It was a small old boat that had wings and propellers, I was quite doubtful on if it could actually fly or not.

The man sharply gestured for us to get in, we did though I was scared, I didn't want this old heavy boat to pull us down, that would not be good. The man instantly set us to work and I'll say one thing about that old contraption, that old bucket looked like hell! And smelled like it too.

I was sweating buckets by the time we cleaned it all. I loathed my life as a slave, it was hard work with no pay and little food. Much to my surprise the old boat actually flew! It was a bit rough but it got off the ground, and thankfully stayed off the ground.

For a long time we just made sure the boat was clean, we found out that the man who had bought us was a pottery salesman. He went from kingdom to kingdom selling his pots and pans. It actually was a little fun traveling everywhere, though I kept hoping that we would be free, maybe this man, who we knew as Master Gary, would let us go free.

I still had the dream of being a dragon hunter, and having a whole pile of gold, silver, and jewels. Master Gary had yarn so Rain could crochet, she was quite happy as long as she could get me to model.

She had already made me a dark red dress that the stitches were so tight together that I could just wear it like that, but it was a little short for me, even though it came to my knees. I was just used to wearing pants, and to make matters worse she made me feel guilty if I didn't wear it when we landed in an even semi-fancy kingdom.

She didn't even try to hide that she wanted me to marry someone. And I did want to marry someone, but just not any rouge who wanted my body. I felt as if she was being motherly towards me, sometimes she acted way more mature then me. Which often aggravated me, and I started punctuating each word, sometimes using large complex ones.

Then one day we landed in a kingdom, and when we went off of the ship, my eyes widened. The kingdom was almost completely destroyed, and it was obviously done by a dragon.

By the way the buildings were covered in webs, I made an educated guess that it was done by an Aartog. A spider-like dragon that was envious of humans, so they took a human captive and changed into the person, they acted, sounded, and looked exactly like the person. Most of them have a temper and if they're found, they'll destroy the village, town, or kingdom that they're in.

I looked back at Rain and Master Gary, Master Gary didn't see too well and he most likely just thought the place wasn't taken care of. "Maste' Gary, c'mon, I'm sure dere's 'nother kingdoms ya wanna go ta? Don' cha?" I asked, my absentmindedness made my accent come out, full form. I was trying to get him to leave, but he waved me away and started setting up his shop, right next to a large cartoon web.

I looked over at Rain who looked worriedly at me. "What's wrong?" She asked, I raised one of my dark brown eyebrows at her. "Don' ya see dis kingdom? 'Ow it's completely destroyed?" I asked, maybe we needed to check her eyes or something. She rolled her own black eyes. "It's deserted, not destroyed. Don't you see the cobwebs?" She said, I shook my head, sometimes she was so oblivious.

"Dey were made by an-." I was cut off by Rain screaming at something behind me, my eyes widened. I slowly looked behind me, there, right there, were two bright blue eyes with no pupils that could only belong to an Aartog. "A-A-Aartog." I stuttered, like straight out of a Dragon Hunters' episode.

Then I quickly spun on my heel and ran as fast as I could, which wasn't very fast. Though, I could run pretty far. I looked behind me, Rain was right beside me. She was faster then me, she ran ahead of me. I looked behind me to see the Aartog wasn't there. _[Oh, 'ell no. Where is it?]_ I asked in my head. I was answered by Rain's scream ahead of me, it was poised to strike at her.

"Hey! Big, ugly, Aartog! C'mon, if yer lookin' fer a fight come get me! Ya wimp!" I shouted at it, that sure got it's attention. It came running after me, my multi-shaded eyes narrowed. I pulled out my small yet sharp pocket knife from it's pocket in my messenger bag, my hatless hair was spreading out wildly. I had my pilot hat in my bag and right then I had regretted not putting it on like I usually did everyday.

"You make me sick." I spat at the dragon in front of me as it skidded to a halt, surprisingly stopping to hear me out. "Can't ya jus' be content wit' what cha are?" I asked, the dragon hissed at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Jus' leave. Ya've done yer damage." I said, and surprisingly the dragon left. Actually, it looked scared, of a little pocket knife? I turned around, and I got another answer.

Zoria.

I remembered her from the series, and the movie. She used to be called Zoe, and she used to have white blonde hair. But now, now she had dark orange hair and was called Zoria. She was a dragon huntress, trained by the inspiration of Silver Knight Gothic and Lian-chu's swordsmanship.

I smirked. "Thanks." I mumbled as she walked towards me, she smiled back at me. "No problem, your friend is over there. The man you were with, I'm afraid the Aartog got to him." She said, I was a little surprised. I hadn't seen it, I looked over at Rain who was looking down at Master Gary's body, I can't say I was sad though I did think it was a bit misfortunate.

"Do you have somewhere to stay?" Zoria asked, I shook my head. "We were slaves ta da man who was killed." I explained, she nodded sadly. "Well, I'm Zoria. I'm going to an inn that my mom owns right now, you're welcome to come along if you want." She offered, I knew she was talking about The Snoring Dragon Inn, and I just couldn't pass off an offer like that.

"Alright, dat sounds nice. I'm Izzy, an' dat's Rain." I said as we walked over to her. "Izzy, is that short for something?" Zoria asked, I didn't see the harm in telling her my own name. "Well, my real name is Nyla. But my middle name is Isley, I jus' made it short." I said, she nodded. "Rain, c'mon, dis is Zoria. She's goin' ta an inn, we're gonna travel with her." I said as soft as my rough voice could go, she was close to Gary and was taking his death hard.

She nodded in agreement and we started going with Zoria to The Snoring Dragon Inn, I tried hard to contain my excitement.

** D H**

A.N: A short one, I know. Sorry! Please rate, or message me if you're a Dragon Hunters fan! Thanks!


	3. The Snoring Dragon Inn

A.N: I don't own Dragon Hunters, only the plot, OCs, and the poems! I wrote them myself.

**D H**

We walked for quite a long time.

I ignored the nagging pain in my legs from usage and focused on what I would do when I got there to The Snoring Dragon Inn. I guess I would help out as much as I could, become friends with everyone, especially the guys, and help out at the inn.

Then, I saw the building we had been walking to for a long time.

The Snoring Dragon Inn. It had it's signature sign right in front, a snoring dragon, of course.

It was a windmill, with green windows and the flags were stringy ropes. We went through the wooden double doors, I looked around. There was a second level that was clear to the main room and a hallway with more rooms.

There was a kitchen in the back and other rooms. The main room had tables, and a fireplace on the left. People, mostly rough looking rouges, sat at the tables eating lunch.

I felt my defensive walls go up, it was a habit since when I was a slave, I felt I couldn't trust anyone, except Rain. Zoria led me and Rain over to a table close to the fireplace, my eyes widened when I saw who was sitting at it.

The guys, Hector, Lian-chu, and Gwizdo. They're exactly how I saw them on my t.v screen so long ago.

Gwizdo was small and short, he wore a long sleeved faded orange shirt under a light brown shirt, and he had a belt that the buckle was a gold coin. He had dark brown pants that had a patch on the right leg, greenish shoes, dark brown fingerless gloves, and of course his dark brown pilot hat.

Lian-chu was large and muscular. had black hair tied in a ponytail by a red cloth, he wore a dark brown fur vest, wrist braces, a round chest plate, dark brown pants, and steel toed shoes.

Last was Hector, who his fur was light and dark blue, somewhere in the middle, he had hoofs for feet and rabbit like ears that stuck up. I, however, didn't look as impressive as them.

I was wearing dark blue jeans that almost looked black, a light but faded dark, blue shirt. I was still wearing the earrings that I had worn when my father sold me, books.

I was wearing my black pilot hat but my long hair was sticking out wildly in different directions trying to get out beneath it, my hands were warm from my jean made dark blue fingerless gloves and I was wearing tough and tight black and white shoes.

Rain was wearing a light red long sleeved shirt with brownish red pants, and black shoes with one light reddish patch on the right. Her black hair was enviously still straight and her light blue eyes were also widened but that was because she was checking out Lian-chu, I resisted the urge to giggle at her, but I was too preoccupied with thinking how cute Gwizdo was when he bit down into the dragon meat he was eating.

"Zoria! I didn't know you were coming this early." Lian-chu said pleasantly surprised by their friend. "Yeah, well, I ran into a couple of women I want you to meet." She explained looking back at where we were standing a few feet away from her, she gestured for us to come over and we did. I didn't even care to fix my hair or run my tongue over my teeth to try to clean them, or even tug at my gloves that were scrunched.

What did I expect anyway? That Gwizdo would maybe fall in love with me? No, I wasn't his type, in one of the episodes, Baby Love, Oh, Baby Love. I remembered his type was beautiful, blonde, freckled, blue eyed. Curvy. No, all he'd think of me was a ragged, scrawny, orphan slave.

"This is Rain, and Nyla." Zoria introduced us. "Izzy." I stated in my cursed accented voice which was scratchy from absence of use. Gwizdo raised his eyebrow ever so slightly, enough to make myself curse myself mentally, again. Lian-chu smiled. "Nice to meet you ladies, please, sit." He said in a friendly manner.

We sat, Rain instantly sat next to Lian-chu leaving me to sit next to Gwizdo. We ate and after lunch Rain and Lian-chu were hitting it off, I was happy for her, they were both very compatible together. I, however, hadn't even talked to Gwizdo. He had jumped on the table and started telling quite an exaggerated story of them taking down a Borback.

I had barely listened to the story and had pulled out my dragon journal, I didn't have anything to hide or if anyone got their hands on it, they wouldn't be confused or anything. My journal only had information about the dragons, not anything suggested that I was someone from another dimension.

I brought out my old quill and small bottled well of ink, I had completely forgotten about them until I looked through my bag. I jotted down a few random poems I had been working on in my mind, it wasn't anything good of course, just silly little things.

Like, one of my favorites had been the one that I had started in the other world, it was actually inspired by Gwizdo, but I would never kill myself just to see if he was in heaven.

_I'm in love with someone who doesn't exist. _

_ But the dream inside me ceases to mist _

_ I wish he was real, that we could kiss _

_ Oh my heart just can't resist._

_ I'm in love with someone who doesn't exist._

_ He's not a prince charming_

_ But I'd love him either way _

_ This dream is here to stay_

_ I'm standing now in the bay._

_ Looking out to where I'll die _

_ Without a single star in the sky_

_ I'll die with a sweet silent cry_

_ But maybe in my dead abyss_

_ I'll find that someone_

_ Who doesn't exist._

It really was depressing, but it was actually very sweet, at least in my view.

My second favorite was another one that I had written when I was in the other world. It wasn't the best but I think it had a good ring to it.

_My father beats me_

_ My mother ignores me_

_ My brother stands aside._

_ I have so many friends_

_ Though only one that I trust_

_ I only smile when I must._

_ Time passes_

_ Earth crashes_

_ But I only say._

_ "Goodnight_

_ Sleep tight_

_ Dream sweet things tonight._

_ For in the morning _

_ It might not be alright."_

Again, it's depressing, but it's easy to write depressing.

I was working on another one but I couldn't quite know how to bring it up all cheery and then end it.

_Darkness is my light_

_ Friendship is my fight_

_ Looseness is my tight _

_ In aggravation I will bite. _

_ Love is lost and gone _

_ But I hope on and on_

_ Maybe in this fight_

_ I'll find the love and light._

_ I've been betrayed_

_ Scars bare my back_

_ It's something I really don't lack._

_ My father, dear father_

_ How could you do this_

_ Sell me to the darkness for your bliss._

_ A gamble_

_ A ramble_

_ The game goes on_

_ My life however strives through dawn._

_ Sun rises _

_ Sun sets_

_ It marks my every mess. _

_ Imperfection should be my name_

_ Because I'm a mess _

_ I'm no such dame _

_ Never wore a dress_

_ Never loved a guy_

_ Probably 'cause they lie_

_ But I've dreamed_

_ Oh, yes I've dreamed. _

_ Visions have never been dreams_

_ But it's so it seems_

_ My life is now a hidden path_

_ Why don't you do the math_

_ I feel so like trash. _

It was getting long, I wanted to make it a bit more inspirational or uplifting. Something I could look at and get up off my ass.

I suddenly felt someone looking over my shoulder, I snapped my head to my shoulder and raised my eyebrow at Gwizdo who was looking at my poems.

I swiftly snapped the book shut, the cover had used to be white but I had written on it, well, actually I painted on it but in words. Black and red paint. It said: "Life's too short ta spend it wit' people ya don' care 'bout". Yeah, I put my accented voice into the cover, just so I could read it aloud and not think I have a speech impairment.

I glared at Gwizdo, I did have a crush on him, at least a long time ago, but at that moment he was invading my personal space. "Ya can read?" He asked, and I blinked at him.

"Yeah, so?" I asked, putting my journal back into it's pocket. "Where'd ya learn ta read? Ya were a slave, right?" He prodded. I bit my tongue, a slave, why didn't I think about that?

"I wasn't born a slave." I said, explaining it, but shortly. He nodded understanding I didn't want to be prodded, instead he just sat down next to me. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Who taught ya?" He asked, obviously I was wrong, he didn't see that I was sending him clear signs I didn't wanna talk about it.

"My mother. Who taught you?" I asked, he was about to answer when he stopped himself. "How'd ya know I can read?" He asked, I chuckled nervously, though he didn't catch it. "Well, I sorta assumed. Lian-chu seems more da muscle, Hector's a dragon, an' ya jus' seem like da type ta read an' write. Plus, dragon hunters need contracts. Anyway, I was right it seems." I said, passing it off.

He nodded, believing it, and then left for bed. I did the same, up to the attic because of so many people at the inn, for Thanksgiving which was only a few weeks away.

Rain told Jeanneline that she would be fine sleeping outside under the stars, I knew she liked the outdoors so I just lent her a blanket and watched her go under a tree.

I snuggled up with some old blankets, then as I was staring off in space while thinking about what I should do the next day, my eyes landed on something that made me smile. Old, rusted, metal, parts.

_[Now, I could definitely make something out of that.]_


	4. The Dragon Huntress

A.N: I don't own Dragon Hunters, only the plot and the OCs, oh, and the poem. Enjoy this chapter!

** D H**

The next day I awoke to the loud unnerving screech of a rooster.

I looked around me, the metal parts I had found were around me in a sort of, semi-circle. A small copper skeleton of a small contraption sat on my thin yet unfortunately not even close to curvy stomach, I smiled down at it.

Pointless yet unique and impressive flying or just moving things always made me smile. I finished it that morning, yes, with my bare hands. You'd be surprised what calluses can do after years of ware, even screwing on screws. When I was finished it was all set, it was a small little boat, but it had working propellers and it was light despite it's looks.

It looked a lot like Master Gary's ship, that's what I wanted it to look like, for Rain. To cheer her up and to welcome her to our new home, because I definitely didn't want to leave now I knew the dragon hunting team. And judging on how Rain had taken a liking to Lian-chu, I think it was safe to say she didn't want to leave either.

I ran downstairs with my new creation ready to show Rain, she was at a table with the guys, all of them were eating leftovers from last night's dragon meat. Judging by it's toughness, I would say either a Lamotreck Rampant, or maybe a Borback.

I sat down next to her, trying to keep back a grin. "Rain, I got a surprise fer ya, an' you're gonna like it." I said smirking slyly, she looked up from her food. "What?" She asked suspiciously, but also excitedly.

I pulled out the small ship, and her black eyes widened as she reached out to touch it. "That's amazing Nyla- Izzy! How did you make it?" She asked, I caught onto the little stumble on my name, I smiled a bit. "Wit' some scrap metal up in da attic, it actually flies!" I said grinning, I started the small model up and it flew around the room.

Some people looked up but most were concentrating on their food, I saw the guys' table and Gwizdo was staring at the ship, obviously interested.

"Um, Rain?" I started, she took her eyes off the flying ship. "Yeah?" I smirked. "Ya can call me Nyla, if ya want." I said, and she smiled back. "Okay." After breakfast, I took out my journal again, but instead of writing I just went through it reading my notes here and there looking at my drawings of the anatomy of each dragon.

I smiled when I got to one of my favorite dragons, the Malokor. It was small and not much of a dragon, but it was so cute that it made me smile each time I saw the drawing I had drew. I looked up, Gwizdo was checking all his weapons, seriously those guys had a _ton_ of weapons. While I only had a small little pocket knife.

I went outside, I was going for a walk around. I walked for a long time, I went down to the old abandoned lighthouse, it looked dangerous but I managed to get the door open. I looked inside, it was dark, cold, and very old.

But, being the woman who never knew the word "danger" growing up, I went inside. Many of the stairs were broken, but I climbed higher, I wanted to see what I could see from atop it.

I came to the very top of the stairs, but they were so broken that I could not get to the very top, and I sat down. I glared at the stop step, like it had been it's fault that I could not get to the top. Then I saw something glinting on the top step, it was a little, gold. I reached up to it, but it was just out of reach. I huffed in frustration, why did I have to be so short. It was being starved most of the time, I was sure of it. Then, I did a very drastic thing.

I jumped.

I clasped it in my right hand and crouched down when I landed back on that stair. I looked at the thing in my hand, my eyes widened in surprise. It was a dagger. And I wasn't an expert on daggers but I liked it, it had a small little dragon on the handle. But I didn't recognize it's species, it was very different.

It scared me a bit, with it's faded yet vibrant color, and it's large sharp horns. And it's long fangs. I shivered, it was cold in the lighthouse. I went out into the sun again, but it was beginning to set.

I started going back to the inn, it started getting cold. Suddenly, I heard something, in a bush to my right. I followed after the noise, it started getting more restless as I followed it along the bush line.

Then, it stopped.

Surprising me, a small dark figure jumped out of the bushes and ran up to me, it tackled me. It started licking me all over my face, and then I grabbed it. I could see it clearly, and my eyes slightly widened. It was a dragon, a small, dark purple, dragon. It looked a lot like Hector, but it's ears were thicker, it had a large wingspan, and it's feet were cat's feet instead of hooves.

It started speaking in that mumbled language like Hector. It sounded like it was saying, pepper? "You're name, is Pepper?" I asked it, a bit unsure about this mysterious dragon. It nodded up and down, then it started talking again in a high pitched voice, it was probably a girl. It looked like a girl, it acted like a girl. And so, Pepper was a girl.

I started walking towards the inn, Pepper followed me. I opened the door and Pepper followed me inside, I really didn't mind, and no one really noticed the small winged dark purple dragon following the short scrawny girl.

That is, until Hector noticed.

Pepper looked like a deer in headlights as Hector growled and ran over to her. Then, in just seconds, Pepper climbed my body like a rope and ended up on my head with her claws scratching my scalp and tangling my hair. Hector started scratching up my legs barking while Pepper dug her claws into my head and hissed. Gwizdo came over and dragged Hector away, shouting at him. And I pried Pepper off of my head. "Please, don' do dat again." I hissed at her, she faintly whimpered.

Jeanneline came over. "Vat is zat?" She asked, pointing to Pepper. I smiled sheepishly. "Uh, um. Jus' a temporary pet. She'll stay in da attic, all day. Ya'll neve' see 'er." I said quickly, she huffed and then started to go back to the kitchen. But she turned around at the last second. "You'll be doin' da dishes!" She spat, then disappeared into the kitchen. I sighed, and then ran up to the attic with Pepper.

I opened the door and saw Rain, she had fallen asleep with her stitch work next to herself. I smiled and then made a small bed for Pepper, then I went off to clean the dishes. I still was holding the small dagger in my hand, I had forgotten about it but I had still held it. I put it in my messenger bag, selecting a certain pocket for it.

Then I thought a bit, I had always wanted to be a dragon hunter when I saw Dragon Hunters on t.v. I had a dagger, I knew most of the dragons, why not? I'd be a great dragon huntress, maybe even the guys would help me out a bit. Or there was always the possibility that they'd think me of competition.

I gnawed over it in my mind, my body going into overdrive and doing the dishes quickly, while my imagination took hold. I saw myself, slaying a giant dragon. It was huge! Like the one I saw in the movie, but alive.

Then I snapped out of my thoughts, I was done with all the dishes. I squinted, the sun was rising! I was so shocked, I had done the dishes all night, and I had been lost in my thoughts for the same time. I sighed, I had made a decision. I would be a dragon huntress.

At breakfast I sat next to Rain, I was going to tell her first. I leaned down to her ear. "Rain?" I whispered, she grunted softly because she was eating. "I'm gonna be a dragon huntress." I said bluntly, she almost choked on her dragon meat. She looked at me bewildered.

"Dragon huntress! Are you crazy!" She hissed at me, I put a finger to my lips. I didn't really want this to get out, I mean, I'd be the laughing stock of the whole inn. "A girl dragon hunter!" They'd say. "Probably a good advantage dat da dragon wouldn't wanna eat ya, ya'd be jus' bones!" They'd laugh. She hushed.

"C'mon, I'd be great at it! I know I'll be, look, I know yer friends with Lian-chu." I said, she blushed a bit. "Do ya think ya can get him ta train me?" I asked hopefully, she thought a bit. "I'll try." She said finally, I hugged her whispering. "Thank you!" Into her ear.

Then I finished eating and waited until Rain went over to the guys' table, and asked Lian-chu. Soon Rain came back with a smile on her face. "He'll teach you. But, Gwizdo isn't really happy about it." She said, I nodded, and I wondered why exactly Gwizdo was unhappy about it.

Then Lian-chu came over, and we both went out to train. I borrowed a sword from them, Lian-chu said it was alright since they had a lot of extra weapons. The sword had a silver handle with dark red cloth wrapped around it and a plain silver blade that was slightly curved.

We trained for a long time, bye the time we were finished it was almost dark. I sat down for dinner, Rain had sat down at the guys' table next to the fire place because it was a bit cold, so I sat down at the table too. I ate in silence while Rain and Lian-chu talked, Gwizdo was concentrating on a contract.

After dinner Rain and Lian-chu were still talking, and Gwizdo was still working on his contract. I decided to take a look at my recent poem. I focused on the last verse.

_ Visions have never been dreams_

_ But it's so it seems_

_ My life is now a hidden path_

_ Why don't you do the math_

_ I feel so like trash._

I thought a bit. Then I tried to make it a bit more uplifting, like I had originally wanted it to be.

_ And so I begin to lash. _

_ I train so hard_

_ And I stand guard _

_ By my new and safe, warm home. _

_ I'm an admirer _

_ Though from long ago_

_ I just don't know, how to let go. _

_ I just don't know, I just don't know. _

_ But I have hope_

_ And I will cope_

_ With his ignorance _

_ And innocence. _

_ I have will_

_ And I will kill _

_ For the rewards ahead_

_ To pay for my bed. _

_ My life has been sad_

_ And has made me a bit mad_

_ All thanks to my dear ol' dad_

_ Who'll get what he deserves, in the end. _

_ Brightness is ahead_

_ That's where my life has led_

_ Hopefully I'm not off my head._

That's what I had so far. It wasn't much, just a bit that I thought off the top of my head that related to my situation, and was uplifting. Which was sort of hard.

I started listening unintentionally to Rain and Lian-chu's conversation. "She's always been strong, I mean, yeah she's very creative and stuff but she's stubborn and strong willed too. So, do you think you can take her?" I heard Rain say to Lian-chu, I wondered who she was talking about.

"I would, but I am not too sure about Gwizdo. He doesn't like competition." I heard Lian-chu reply, I was almost positive they was talking about me. "He reminds me of her. Gwizdo, I mean, they're so much alike. It's kind of hard to miss." Rain said, like I was oblivious to the fact I was like Gwizdo. "Yes, they even both read." Lian-chu muttered in thought, I smiled. "And write." I said absentmindedly, they snapped their heads towards me. I only continued smiling at them.

Then most of the people went to bed, but the fire still burned so I stayed up, I was drawing. I drew Pepper, she was still in the attic, probably sleeping. She liked the rafters, because she could fly up there and chase the pigeons.

I made her smirking, with bright eyes. Her wings were spread impressively, with a lot of detail. Then I made a background, and I made it all colorful.

A sudden chill ran down my body, and I shivered harshly. "Ya shouldn't be here, it's cold." I heard someone behind me, I turned around. It was Gwizdo. I smirked.

"Thanks, I was jus'. Drawing, nothin' really." I said, picking up my drawing and putting it in my bag. He watched me, sort of, observed me. I headed for the stairs.

"Goodnight, Gwizdo." I said, he nodded. "Uh, yeah. G'night, Nyla." He said, then I went up the stairs, and to the attic.

**D H**

A.N: Please review, and thanks for reading!


	5. The Fight of the Durratonum

The next day I ate breakfast quietly at the tables.

Then I went outside and practiced my fighting skills, my target was a tree. I did exactly what Lian-chu had taught me, but it got boring very quickly. So I switched it up a little bit with just my own unique style, it was fun. I didn't hear the steps behind me, until I almost chopped his head off.

"Hey! Watch where ya swingin' dat thing!" Gwizdo shouted, a bit scared of my swing with the sword in his direction. I stopped instantly and turned around to face him. "Sorry, Gwizdo." I apologized, and I saw that he tried not to smirk.

"Uh, me an' Lian-chu wan' ya ta go wit' us on a hunt." He said a bit nervously, and I was surprised. They didn't know me good or anything, but they were inviting me to go on a hunt with their team! I was honored, and skeptic on their true motives. Maybe they just wanted to eliminate the competition or see how good I am.

"Sure! When?" I asked, excited, though still skeptic. He grinned, showing his gap between his teeth. "We're leavin' dis evenin'. See ya den." He said, then he turned and left back for the inn. I put my sword in a sheath that I had found in the attic and then quickly grabbed my bag.

The evening was purely beautiful, if it could even be called that. With the sun setting behind The Snoring Dragon Inn, with it's wonderful blues, purples, pinks, oranges, reds, and whites.

It was breath taking, at the Slave House we never saw the sunset, there weren't any windows to actually look out of. I stared at it from my seat in The Saint George, the guys were packing everything onto the small flying machine that they needed, and also some things they probably didn't need.

I only had my bag with a few extra clothing, my journal, my small pocket knife, and my dagger. The sword I was borrowing was in it's sheath in a belt on my waist, though it was loose because it was made for a man I had managed to get it securely on me.

We waved goodbye to Rain, Pepper, Jeanneline, and Zaza. Lian-chu grabbed hold of the handles and pushed us off the edge roughly, I shut my eyes tightly when we began to fall off the cliff. It was scary and it got my heart pumping like a motor, I resisted the fighting urge to scream.

Then we very slowly yet sickeningly began to rise, and then leveled out. I watched my friends whom I considered family slowly becoming smaller, and smaller, until they were no longer visible to the naked eye.

I started looking around myself at my surroundings, and I realized the small space wasn't much. I started looking out into the clouds, so white and yet so transparent.

I suddenly remembered what lay ahead of me, a dragon. Sure I had some experience with small lizards, and I had trained with Lian-chu. Attacked the tree bark, almost cut Gwizdo's head off by accident. Not much, but I was going up against a dragon. I didn't even know what kind it was! I looked over at Lian-chu who was, as usual, knitting.

"What kind of dragon is it?" I asked out of curiosity, he looked up from his stitches. "Durratonum." He replied, then got back to his stitches. It looked like he was making a sweater, though I couldn't be sure.

I thought about it intensely, Durratonum. One of the dragon species that I had never hated, nor liked.

It was bright yellow, it's body being very long and snakelike. It had two pairs of bright red, pincher like legs. A pair of upper fangs and lower fangs. A forked tongue, and piercing violet eyes.

It was swift, and when it was in a very serious battle of possibly life or death it rolled itself into a ball with black spikes sticking out of it's back and tried to run you over flat to spear you. Yep, that was my first dragon that I have to help kill.

Wonderful.

I read all my notes on the Durratonum that I had found online, not very much, just a few things here and there. In the show it didn't really show up much, I think for only one episode, maybe two.

The only way it died was when it was shot with an arrow to the head, anything else didn't kill it not even Lian-chu. But it probably would be killed by a blade to the head, if you could get close enough without being speared or having it's fangs sunk into you. I closed up my book, it was getting late.

I closed my eyes, and I was soon fast asleep with the wind tousling with my hair.

**D** **H**

I woke up in a surprisingly soft bed.

I looked around myself. _[Lian-chu must've carried me.]_ I thought, I saw that the guys were sleeping in other beds around me and Hector was sleeping on the floor in what I assumed was stolen blankets.

I got up and I went out of the room, I found myself in a long wooden walled hallway. I went down it to a main hall, a man with curly black hair and piercing green eyes noticed me and smiled. He was wearing a purple shirt and brown pants.

"Hello! Welcome to the Green Grass Inn, are you goin' to be takin' care of the dragon hunters' things?" He said cheerfully, I shook my head. "Uh, no. I have ta get ready fer da dragon we're gonna fight." I said as I sat down on one of the tables that were scattered on the floor, a bit like at Jeanneline's inn.

"Oh, really? How are you goin' to help, if I might ask." He said curiously, I was a little annoyed, but I knew that when I became a dragon huntress that I'd have to face sexism, like Zoria.

"I'm a dragon huntress." I stated, kind of defensively. He stared at me frozen for a second, then started laughing loudly at me. "Well! Aren't you a sight to see! A woman dragon hunter!" He said between laughs, his noise must've woken up the guys because they came in looking for the source of the laughter.

The innkeeper noticed them, he laughed a little slower. "Yer travelin' with a crazy girl! Do you know what she says! She says she's a dragon hunter!" He shouted at them, grinning like a mad person. I narrowed my eyes at him, my anger steaming. I swiftly took out my small yet sharpened dagger, and I put it in front of his face.

He stared at it with wide eyes, and abruptly stopped laughing. "Would I be carryin' _dis_, if I wasn't one?" I asked him coldly. "No, I. Um, guess not." He said quietly, I nodded and steadily put the dagger back.

The guys had been watching us sleepily and silently, since they were still waking up. I sat down again, and they sat at the same table, Gwizdo to my left, Lian-chu across from me, and Hector next to Lian-chu. The man got us breakfast and after that Gwizdo started explaining what we were going to do.

"Dis is a pretty good contract, so jus' get in dere an' kill it." He said, then started eating. We nodded in agreement, then started eating too. When we were done, we set off again.

We flew for about an hour or so give or take, and we landed on a small yet very green island. We got off the wooden wagon-like flying machine, and I followed Gwizdo, who was following Lian-chu.

We looked for the dragon, and the hunt was on.

I was looking around at all the trees and wildlife, I didn't know that Gwizdo had stopped until I ran into his back, and I stumbled back. He looked over his shoulder at me, I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." I said quietly, and he turned back.

"It's ahead." I heard Lian-chu say up ahead. I looked over Gwizdo's shoulder, I was around his height, maybe a bit shorter. "What's it doin'?" I asked, Lian-chu looked back at me.

"It doesn't know we're here. We should be very quiet, we don't want to alarm it." He said, I nodded. When he turned around, it was closer. I saw the bright yellow body, I smiled, my first hunt.

Then Hector just had to take one step, and he just had to step on a twig, and it just had to snap. Before I could even think a single thought, the Durratonum was attacking Lian-chu, he deflected it with his sword and then the dragon coiled itself in a ball and it's spikes went up. Gwizdo and Hector ran for cover, and Lian-chu ran for a tree to regain his strength and confuse it when it didn't see him.

Me?

Oh, I stood there, staring at it. Then I finally took out my dagger, and slung my bag on one of the tree limbs that I could reach. It targeted me and came at me at a hundred miles per-hour.

I dodged it at the last second and cut it in between the spikes, blood poured out of the wound but and it howled, but I knew it wouldn't kill it. Unless we left it to bleed out, but if I remembered Gwizdo's contracts right, they had to bring the body back for proof before they got their money.

It made a U-turn and came at me, a little faster. I stood my ground and focused on my aim, the small black sliver, fatter than the others that marked it's segments was where the head was.

As quick as a cat's reflexes I snapped my arm back and threw my dagger. I had a pretty good aim, and I was alright with judging on what time will that get there if this was going that fast and this was going that fast. But unfortunately, it didn't hit the head.

It hit it's back.

It howled in pain and uncoiled itself, it locked it's eyes onto me, knowing I was the one who caused it's pain. It lunged at me, my eyes widened for a second in surprise but I jumped just in time. I landed on the creature's leathery scaled back, it was probably as surprised at I was.

_[Where da hell are Lian-chu an' Gwizdo!]_ I shouted in my mind like a distress signal, but it didn't do any good that only I could hear it. I spotted my dagger, lodged deep in it's skin with crimson pouring out around it like a bubbling fountain of blood. I reached for it, but a spike shot up out of it's scales, nearly missing piercing my arm. I cried out in shock.

"Nyla!" I heard someone shout, but I didn't have time to see who it was. I swiftly yanked my dagger out, while holding onto the spike that had popped up for the Durratonum was thrashing around wanting to throw me off it's back.

It growled deeply when I yanked my dagger out, and I headed waited, clinging to the spike, for an opening to it's head. I got my opening, I jumped towards the head. Everything seemed to slow down considerably, I got both of my hands clutching the dagger ready to plunge it into it's skull.

But at the second that I threw myself at it, the closest of it's spikes appeared.

A sharp pain in my side.

A foreign thing in my flesh.

But I had gotten to my goal, and I plunged the silver blade of my knife into the bright yellow cartoon head of the Durratonum. It shivered in the coldness of it's awaiting death, and then flattened out as it's spirit left it's body.

Silence, all around me, cold as a winter's night. I knew people were yelling, somehow. But I didn't hear them. My eyes looked down, down to my side. Blood, that's all that entered my vision.

It started out small little black stars in the corners of my vision, then they swarmed into a mass. Then, darkness.

I floated in an abyss of my own thoughts, visions, dreams, and desires.

Fears, depression, anger, and hopelessness.

Then, I opened my multi-shade eyes.


	6. A Thanksgiving and A Truth

I looked up into a pair of light blue eyes.

They smiled when they saw that I was awake. "Nyla! You scared me half to death, I thought you were dead!" Rain scolded me, I attempted to laugh but it only produced a sharp piercing pain shooting up from my right side to my head.

My face twisted into pain, which I tried to turn into a smile, but I didn't succeed. Rain shushed me like a concerned mother, at least, from what I had heard mothers did.

"You've been asleep for three days. We've been worried sick for you. Even Gwizdo." She explained, I managed a small smirk. "When's da next hunt?" I asked eagerly. Her eyes widened and she laughed at me.

"You're hurt, Izzy! You can't get up! How are you going to kill a Bucaramanga?" She asked, covering her mouth after she said the dragon's species.

"They're doin' a hunt? Without me? Sorry, Rain. Gotta be dere." I said stubbornly, I took a deep breathe.

Then, in one swift movement, I sat up. The most painful thing I felt, times one hundred, shot all over my body. I cried out for a moment, then I shut my mouth closed.

"Nyla! Lie down right now! You're going to get even more hurt!" She shouted in distress at me, I shook off the pain and stood on my own two feet. I cringed but it didn't hurt as bad, I glanced down at my side.

It was covered in bandages that were stained with dried blood, but I knew it had stopped bleeding. I was dressed in a dark pink blouse and a red and blue striped skirt that went a little past my knees. I was barefoot and my feet were a bit dirty, and cold. I started walking towards the dark wooden door.

"Nyla Isley Broke! You lie down on this bed this instant or I will get Lian-chu to strap you down and give you sleeping powder!" Rain shouted at me demandingly and determined.

I regretted telling her my full name, it reminded me of my past life, in that past world long forgotten yet still remaining stained in my memory. "Good, 'cause dat's da only way yer gonna keep me from dragon hunting!" I shouted over my shoulder, with a grin on my face.

Rain suddenly started running after me, and I ran away. Good thing I could run long, but fast was the issue. I dared to look behind me, Rain was coming closer. I ran to the stairs, and I slid down the banister, still grinning.

"Lian-chu! Hector! Gwizdo! Jeanneline! Someone, get her!" I heard Rain scream from the top of the stairs, she was really scared for me. I would've felt very loved, but at the moment I was being chased by her and probably soon the other people I had grown to love as my own family.

I saw Lian-chu coming for me, but I dodged his attempted tackle.

Hector came over to me growling, I barked at him like a dog and he backed off, I knew knowing that Hector's kind was afraid of dogs would come in handy.

Rain caught up to me and tugged at the back of the blouse I was wearing, I pinched her hand and she let go.

Jeanneline got in front of me with a large wooden spoon, I grabbed the spoon before she could take a whack at me like a crazy woman, and I spun her around until she fell on the floor.

I made my way towards the door, to freedom, to open air. But a pair of pale eyes made contact with my own honey and chocolate, he put up his right arm with his hand flexed in the universal signal for "stop". I froze in my own steps before his arm made contact with myself, my eyes widened to the point where they almost hurt.

Gwizdo's eyes were very harsh, I didn't like them harsh. It almost scared me, almost. "Get back in dat bed!" He scolded, my eyes rounded in shame, and I started slowly stalking back to the bedroom.

Everyone watched me go, and when I got to the bedroom.

I fell asleep almost instantly as I hit the bed.

**D H**

Gwizdo wondered to himself why Nyla hadn't stopped for anyone, but himself.

What was special to her about him?

And that look in her eyes, it made him mad at himself. But he didn't have a clue why! He hadn't seen her eyes so clearly, he hadn't noticed the different shades of brown they were.

The left.

Light brown, happy, stubborn, glowing.

The right.

Dark brown, angry, hopeless, faded.

He wondered why he didn't see it before. He knew from the moment that he looked into those eyes she was something different, and that she had a past that was different. Sure, being a slave was different, but those eyes weren't one of a slave. Something, much, much deeper.

Gwizdo thought about it for hours on end when Nyla went into yet another long sleep, this time she slept for three days. Rain asked him about it, she was puzzled too about why she hadn't stopped for anyone but him. He, of course, told her he didn't know.

He sat down next to the comatose girl, she was so skinny it sometimes amazed him. He had a small frame too, no muscle like his best friend, Lian-chu. All the girls loved him for that. Gwizdo was the runt, the smart-aleck, the greedy, ugly, mean one. So, she couldn't have feelings for him, at least, it was highly unlikely.

He laid on the bottom bunk staring at the bottom of the top bunk, the next day was Thanksgiving. Everyone had been getting ready for it, they even bought a turkey at the market.

They had orange, red, yellow, and brown streamers in the main hall. Yet, Gwizdo didn't feel like it was fully a Thanksgiving. Something was missing, but what? A thought ran through his head, and stopped right in his mental view.

Nyla.

That's what was missing, she was missing! Why that mattered to him was a mystery, but that was the problem and he wanted to fix it.

The next day he sat in Nyla's room, willing her in his head to wake up. Then, something not short of a miracle occurred.

Nyla snapped open her multi-shade eyes.

**D** **H**

I snapped open my eyes.

I had been having a nightmare, it happened as soon as I had fallen back asleep. I was being chased, by my father. He was shouting at me, yelling something I couldn't remember. But it hurt, oh yes, it hurt. I remembered that.

I breathed erratically, but soon calmed myself down. I looked around, and was surprised when my eyes landed on Gwizdo.

I smirked still having slightly labored breathing. "How long have I been asleep dis time?" I asked, a little jokingly. He grinned, showing that gap in his front teeth that I couldn't help but like. "Three days." He replied, I shook my head.

"Ya must've thought I was dead." I mumbled, then swung my legs off the bed, I was still wearing what I had been wearing the last time I had woken up. I stood up and took a step towards the door, but my legs gave out from under me.

I braced for impact but it didn't come, instead I was caught in Gwizdo's arms. I smiled sheepishly up at him. "Sorry, jus' a lil' weak." I said quietly and shyly, I stood up again. I steadied myself and Gwizdo held out his arm, I blushed but took it after a moment.

We walked out of the room and I looked at all the decorations, I gazed at them in awe. I hadn't celebrated Thanksgiving for a while, sure at the Slave house we got a bit more gruel on the day, but that was it.

"Dis, is amazing." I said to Gwizdo who was watching me look at all of the things. He chuckled. "Jeanneline even gotta turkey." He mentioned, I looked over at him wide eyed. Turkeys were very costly, back in the past world it wasn't much because there were plenty, but here, all the dragons mostly ate them. I was suddenly hit by a wonderful smell food.

"I'm starving! Where's da food!" I shouted, I let go of Gwizdo's arm and ran down to the main hall, where I found all my friends feasting on the wide assortment of food. I plopped myself right next to Rain and grabbed everything in sight, Rain hugged me.

"I'm glad you're awake! I thought you'd be dead." She said while hugging me even more tightly, it made me unable to eat. "I'm hungry, let go of me so I can eat." I grumbled at her, and she let go giggling. I ate as slowly as my body let me, but it was still a bit quick and Rain shook her head at me disapprovingly.

When we were all done with Thanksgiving I was stuffed to the brim with delicious food, I looked over at Rain who was crocheting a lovely little sweatshirt for Pepper.

Speaking of the little dragon, she was making amends with Hector, and he seemed quite lovestruck with the small dark purple creature in front of him. Pepper, who was clever enough to notice, took advantage of the situation and stole his turkey bone. Hector snapped out of his love-gaze and chased Pepper all around the inn, Pepper simply flew up to one of the dragon heads on the wall.

It felt good to be back in consciousness, I looked over at Gwizdo. He was writing, probably another contract. He was so interesting, and attractive. It was hard not to admire him at least a little, I remembered in my past life I even had a big crush on him.

Even though, back then he wasn't real. I often had daydreamed about him falling in love with me, I was already in love with him so I couldn't fall in love with him again.

I often daydreamed these elaborate plots of stories, it was Mary-sue stories of course. But, I couldn't help it. I was hopelessly in love with someone that didn't exist and never would.

And now, now he was real. In front of me, tempting me almost, though he didn't know it. I had to admit, I still had strong feelings for him. After all these damn years! I wasn't angry at him, I was angry at myself. I was just pulling myself up with these lost and broken dreams just to fall again.

I laid in bed that night, looking at the wooden ceiling, and I thought to myself why I loved Gwizdo. Yes, loved. The word most people often used but never meant, the word used in fairy tales but never as true as that, the word people in the other world mistook for lust.

Lets see, he was attractive, at least in my eyes. He was funny, even when he didn't mean to be. He was intelligent, in both streetwise and intellectual smarts. He knew and liked to write, which I could relate to. He had an accent like mine, which is another thing I could relate to. He was a dragon hunter, even if he was scared out of his wits of them. He was a pilot, which meant he could basically go anywhere he wanted as long as someone else was there to co-pilot.

I thought about his pale blue eyes, they had stopped me like it had been a solid brick wall. People would be asking why, why I hadn't stopped for anyone but him. But I'd only tell the truth to Rain, she'd understand, she'd understand why I was in love with him.

I sighed, I couldn't fall asleep with all these thoughts running my head wild. I got out of bed and changed into warm clothes suitable to the chilly fall weather. I made sure I had my pilot hat on to protect my head and my denim gloves.

Then as sneaky and quiet as a cat I made my way out of the inn to the tree that I had attacked in my early training. I sat underneath it in the darkness of the night, though I knew the sun would rise soon.

I closed my eyes, letting the nature's quiet and it's spirited wind run through me like I was it's own. When I fluttered my eyes open the sun was slowly rising from nowhere, I didn't know how it rose and set since the world wasn't one large orb. But several floating slabs, it just didn't make sense.

I heard the footsteps behind me but I didn't bother looking to see who it was, I was focused on the rising sun with all it's wonderful entrancing colors. In my peripheral vision I saw Gwizdo sit down next to me.

"Ya shouldn't be out 'ere." He stated, the emotion in his voice wasn't stern, but more level. I chuckled. "An' when was I ever da one ta do da right thing?" I asked, smiling at my amusement at myself. He smirked at me.

"Yeah, guess yer right." He said, I nodded. Then we both watched the sun rise, the silence and the cold air that you could see your breathe. I shivered. "We should go back inside." Gwizdo suggested, I looked over at him.

"Wait." I said seriously, he understood my tone and sat down next to me. I looked at the ground and then, I told him. I don't even remember how I did it, it just. Spilled out my mouth uncontrollably. I even told him that I wasn't from that world, which I thought he wouldn't believe.

He was very sceptic about it and I could tell he wanted to run to the inn and say that I was off my hinges. But I then I begged him, yes, begged him. I begged him not to tell anyone, that they would call me crazy, and I told him that I had wanted to tell him because I felt some sort of connection to him. He saw the truth and desperation in my eyes, he smirked.

"I'm a lil' sceptic, but I think yer tellin' da truth. An' I won't tell 'em." He said, I sighed a sigh of relief. "Thank you." I said grinning thankfully up at him as he stood up. I did too, because it was getting cold. "I'm cold, maybe we should get back inside." I suggested.

He nodded his head in agreement and we made our way back to the inn.


	7. The Man, The Dragon, and The Inn

For about seven months I went on hunts with the guys, and thankfully none of those times I got as injured as I did on my first hunt. The slash, had healed nicely, but left a long scar going along my side.

About a month ago Rain and Pepper started going on the particular long hunts, making sure everyone was in order and planning things. I had payed for the fare of our stay and even a little bit of the guy's very long bills.

I smiled as I sharpened my dagger, it was my lucky dagger. Only the really important dragons were killed with that magnificent blade, and none of them survived.

I rubbed on the grooves of the dragon that was carved into it, I still had no idea what species of dragon that was. But I liked how it looked.

Then one day a man came into the inn, he was definitely a royal of some sort. He had bright fancy clothes, he had brilliant rings on his fingers, he even had a pauper hat with a large purple feather stuck up on the end. He had slicked black hair and bright green eyes, with a spectacle over his left eye. Complete with a mustache and a small beard, both as slicked and black as his hair.

He stuck out in the crowd of inn people like a sore thumb.

He asked Jeanneline for me and Gwizdo. Whom, over time, had teamed up since we both can read and Gwizdo had been training me a bit with negotiating skills.

We went down to the table the man was at, and we sat down across from him. "What can we do fer ya, sir?" I said with a friendly smile, he nodded his greeting. "I need two dragons killed." He said, I nodded and shook my head at the same time.

"What kind of dragons?" Gwizdo asked, getting out a contract from his back pocket. "One is a Pavunodor, which is on Camtack island. And the other is, an unknown dragon. It's on Twized island, at Goblin Castle ruins." He explained, I whistled lowly.

"Camtack is sorta far, but Twized is very far away. Plus Pavunodors are tricky, an' an unknown dragon dat we don' have any history on is a big risk dere. Da question is; How much are ya willing ta pay ta get rid of these lizards?" I explained to him, I had been a bit greedy with money, my old habits coming back.

Most likely Gwizdo was rubbing off on me.

"Five thousand gold pieces." He said, it was obvious he was a bit desperate. I glanced over at Gwizdo, who glanced over at me. "Hmm, alright. I think we can make a deal." Gwizdo said, shockingly calm.

He wrote down some things on his contract, then he turned it over to me and I signed it as a witness and then I turned it over to the man, who signed just as an X. Gwizdo rolled it up with a toothy grin and put it back in his pocket.

"Good day sir, an' we'll kill your dragons." I said with a grin, much like Gwizdo's, and we both went back to the room where Lian-chu, Rain, Pepper, and Hector were lazily lounging.

We burst in the room proudly, both of us grinning egotistically. "We have a hunt!" I proclaimed, and they all looked over at us two. "Wonderful! What type of dragon?" Rain asked, putting down her stitches.

"Two! A Pavunodor, an' an unknown." Gwizdo said, saying "unknown" a little spookily. I laughed at his tone of voice. "At least we'll get five thousand gold pieces." I said, the grin on my face felt as if it was there to stay.

"Five thousand gold pieces! Amazing, who has that sort of money?" Rain said looking at everybody, Pepper came over to me and hugged me proudly. "Us, soon." Gwizdo said, I looked over at him and he had started packing already.

I joined him and was soon all packed.

And we then left, immediately.

**D** **H**

We flew for a long time, our first stop was Camtack.

Camtack was an island full of Cocomaks, which were Coconuts but harder, more bitter, and a little larger. Pavunodors fed on them. Pavunodors was one of the chameleon like dragons, like the Vanikoro, it could completely disappear into it's surroundings.

Pavunodors, visible, were light purple with light pink spots. They had light orange eyes that were small, and a large mouth filled with jagged teeth. It had birdlike feet and small arms, a little like a T-rex. And the only way to kill it, was with a well aimed sword or arrow, to the back of the leg where a large artery sat.

I saw the Camtack island, and it wasn't big, but it was big enough for us to do quite some searching for the dragon. Gwizdo found a safe landing point across a bridge on another island close to it, it was called Ol, because it was old and no one was living on it.

We went across the bridge connecting the two islands, and we split up to find the Pavunodor quicker. Fighters with, none fighters. Lian-chu went with Rain and Hector, while I went with Gwizdo and Pepper. Me, Gwizdo, and Pepper went to the left, and the others went right.

We trudged through the dense green for a bit, then Pepper started shouting at something to our North East. I drew my sword and threw it to where she was shouting, it struck something that was invisible, and I smirked.

We found the Pavunodor.

I took out my dagger and ran towards the invisible dragon. I grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it towards the thing that my sword had dug into. I got a rough outline of the Pavunodor and I tried to lock onto the back of it's leg.

It started running away, and I chased it. I was pretty sure that the others were right behind me, until I looked around and discovered they were cowering behind me. I rolled my eyes at them but focused on the dragon ahead of me.

Then, a sword whizzed through the air and hit it straight in the back of it's left puny purple leg. I looked towards where the sword had come from, Lian-chu stood there with Rain and Hector at his side. I smiled, and then I turned back to the Pavunodor. I watched it cringe, and then fall, as it released it's last breath. I went over to it and pulled out my sword, which had lodged itself into it's back.

I sighed, one down.

One more to go.

**D** **H**

I fluttered my eyes as the clouds misted my face as we briefly went through the soft whiteness. I had never went to Twized island, because no dragons had ever gone there. The reason, no one knows. It was a small island, mostly covered by the legendary Goblin Castle ruins.

Stories told that the Goblin Castle used to be sort of like a Bermuda Triangle, people went in, but didn't come out. I remembered a story that was told usually around a campfire or something of that sort.

The king, the Goblin king, was a powerful man, if you could even call him that. He went by the name, Geed, but he hated his name so people often called him by his middle name, because he liked Drac much better.

No one saw him, but the people inside, and they never came out to tell their stories. It was just a story based on an old castle, but now, the castle was just ruins. It was a long way away from Twized island, and it was getting dark.

We landed on a large island called Vill, and we soon found an inn named Reckless Lucy's Dancing Inn. We went in and I squinted at the brightness, my eyes got used to it.

I looked around my new surroundings, we were obviously in the main hall, it was bright with a thousand lights. In the back of the room there was a large stage with girl dancers, not exactly burlesque, but not exactly appropriate for young ones either.

"Can I help you?" I turned around and saw an innkeeper, my eyes widened. She looked almost exactly like the woman that was in the episode: Baby Love, Oh, Baby Love. The woman that Gwizdo was so attracted to, stood in front of me. Well, it wasn't actually her, as far as I knew. But it was close, yes, very very close.

"We wanna room fer da night." I choked out, once I found my voice. She nodded and marked it down. "Alright, two hundred gignies." She said, I pulled out my wallet and gave her the equivalent of two hundred gignies in silver, that we were rewarded for killing a Petrovile a few weeks back.

She smiled and put it in her pocket, she was wearing a dress that was a bit too short, it was black and pink checkered. Gwizdo moved up next to me, grinning impishly at the innkeeper, I rolled my eyes in annoyance, and jealousness.

"Well, hello. My name's Jessie, what's yours?" She said flirtatiously, and I chuckled. "I'll leave you two ta flirt, where's our room?" I asked, amused at the two of them. Jessie looked over at me, curiously.

"Oh, sorry. Is he yours?" She asked innocently, like she was asking a simple question, not rude or anything. I blushed furiously. "N-n-no. J-just- Where's da room I jus' payed fer?" I asked, she smirked, seemingly seeing through my terrible lie. "Last on the right." She said, I nodded and went to the room hall which I had seen on the left. The small group followed me silently.

The room was large, it had two large master beds and two love seats. I let the others get situated with the room and I looked over my journal. When they got situated, they immediately went to bed, and soon fell asleep. Lian-chu took one of the love seats, Rain and Pepper took one of the beds, and Hector took the other love seat.

Which left me and Gwizdo.

_[Wow, how cliche.]_ I thought, as me and Gwizdo got ready for bed. We were the last ones up, the others were completely passed out, and I already felt flustered from the Jessie incident earlier.

We decided to sleep head to toe, and toe to head. I laid on the bed, my head at the head of the bed. I could feel Gwizdo's body heat, and it felt comforting, even though I thought it would be awkward. I relaxed in the bed, I loved him, I shouldn't be flustered or awkward. And it wasn't, so I closed my eyes.

And I fell deeply, asleep.

**D** **H**

I slowly opened my light and dark brown eyes.

They observed my current state in a matter of seconds, I had my hands around Gwizdo's ankles tightly and his feet were resting horizontally on top of my head. I blinked in surprise at my position, then I jumped out of the bed, releasing my grip on Gwizdo's ankles. He was thankfully still asleep, so was Lian-chu, and Hector.

"You've been gripping his ankles for a while now." Rain said looking at me like she knew something about me that I didn't know. "Yeah, I had a nightmare." I said, making an excuse. She didn't know that I was in love with Gwizdo, and I was a little embarrassed about it.

She smiled. "I know you're in love Gwizdo so you don't have to hide from me." She said sweetly, my eyes widened. How the crap did she know? Was it that obvious? "Uh, I, uh." I laughed nervously, but not loud enough to wake the guys. "I don' know what ya mean." I said very nervously, I cursed my inability to lie to her.

"C'mon, I know you love him. It's right there on your face." Rain said going over to me, I looked in her soft light blue eyes and sighed. "Alright, yeah. I admit it. I'm in love, what cha want from me? I can't help it." I said, like it wasn't a big thing or anything.

She giggled at my reaction. "It's not a bad thing! I'm in love too and I know that it's a wonderful thing." She said, my mouth turned into an open smile of happy surprise. "Lian-chu?" I asked, she nodded excitedly, joyful that someone finally knew that wasn't herself.

"I'm so happy fer ya two! Ya make a sweet couple." I said, I was happy for her. "And I'm happy for you and Gwizdo." She replied, I sighed shaking my head.

"I don' think he'll notice, I mean. Look at me. Tell me what ya see, seriously. I'm not pretty or nothin', I'm smart sure, but who wants a smart woman?" I said hopelessly, she stared at me like I had grown another head.

"You're beautiful! You can't see that? Look at those sweet curls, you have a natural womanly frame, you have such unique and pretty eyes. You're perfectly, beautifully, you." She said, trying to boost my ego.

I smiled thankfully at her. "Thank you. But I'm still doubtful dat he'll ever actually love me like I do. Anyway, lets wake 'em up an' get goin' ta Twized island. I want my gold." I said, changing the subject.

Rain nodded in agreement making her black hair shake by the movement, and we went over to the men that we both loved. I looked down at Gwizdo, he had taken off his own pilot hat and his shaggy dark brown hair stuck up around his face. I crouched down 'til I was right in front of his face

"Gwizdo. Dis is yer wakeup call, brought to you by Nyla Isley Broke, yer friend. If ya do not get up in five seconds, I will start screamin' in yer ear." I said softly, and I started counting in my head.

When I got to five, I took a deep breath in. Then I screamed as loud as I could. Gwizdo jumped about three feet into the air and came down glaring at me, annoyed. I smiled guiltily. "I'm sorry, but we need ta get goin'." I said, with a pitiful face that said, _"I'm very sorry, but it actually was pretty funny." _

He nodded in agreement, and we all started getting back to The Saint George.


	8. The Goblin Castle

We flew, yet again.

I was getting used to being so high up in the sky and flying in The Saint George. The clouds drifted along in the air, I even saw a bird fly away to a nearby island.

I knew we were getting closer and closer to the unknown monster, and I started getting nervous. An unknown species of dragon, it could be two things. Young and unexperienced, or strong and a challenging fighter.

Then, I saw it. The large Goblin Castle ruins of Twized island, sitting proudly, yet crumbling to the dying ground. We landed in front of it, the propellers on the flying machine died down.

I got out with my eyes narrowed in on the ruins like a tracking device, ready for a fight to the end. I sighed, making sure I was ready for this unknown, and the reassuring thought that I had my friends to back me up.

When everyone was settled and ready, Pepper and Rain stayed with The Saint George while me, Lian-chu, Gwizdo, and Hector went to the ruins. To get the job done.

We walked through the halls of the Goblin Castle, though ruins, most of the castle still stood.

Then, I got separated.

I don't know how, and I still do not have a clue about how I got myself stuck in that situation. But I found myself wandering the halls, calling up and down for my friends. I started getting scared, I was all alone, in this castle, and with a supposed unknown dragon. I felt the pinpricks of salty stinging tears in the corner of my eyes, that was the one thing I was purely and utterly terrified of.

Loneliness.

I wiped them away angrily, I would not cry like a little girl who's lost her friends. Though, I suppose in a way, I was. I got to a door, it was at the end of the long hallway I was walking, and it was black with red on it. I considered going back to try and find the guys, but my curiosity got the better of me.

If only I knew, if only I knew.

I stepped out into a huge arena, it looked like it had caged something, or held some sort of games. I went through the stands, and my eyes observing my surroundings.

Most of the stands were crumbling or already destroyed, the steps were firm but some moved when I put pressure on them. In the dirty ground of the arena there were large holes that seemed so black that they were painted, it was only when I got close to one that I realized how far they actually went.

Then the ground beneath me started shaking violently and I nearly fell in the hole. "Nyla!" I heard someone shout my name. I looked up to see everyone, including Rain and Pepper.

But as soon as my head turned to them I turned them away, because all of them were gaping at something right behind me. I turned behind me slowly, and I soon joined my friends in gaping.

A giant, no, _GINORMOUS_ dragon stood in front of us. It had wonderful colors but they were dirty and faded old, it looked like The World Gobbler from the movie. At least, from what I could remember. It was staring at us, waiting for us to make the first move, and I did.

I unsheathed my sword, but I didn't hold it, I dropped it into the hole next to me. I could feel the eyes of my friend boring into me, wondering what the hell I was doing.

I then took out my dagger, it was amazing, the feeling I felt when my skin came in contact with the cold handle. It was like I was being controlled by the small blade, it was telling me what to do, and though I felt like I knew it all along. The dragon on the dagger's handle was the one on front of me, down to the very last detail.

My eyes glazed over, though I didn't know it.

My limbs weren't in my control, though I barely noticed.

And my brain was thinking about only one thing, on thing that filled every crevice in my mind and memory and knowledge.

One, simple, thing.

Kill the dragon.

I started running towards it, and I realized that it had fur on it's legs and feet. When I got to it's feet it started trying to stomp on me, but I eventually got a firm handful grip of it's light brown fur.

I started to climb, and shockingly the fact I was climbing up a leg wasn't freaking me out like I thought it would. I got to the bone part of him, around his stomach and slightly his chest, I rock climbed up it. It tried to shake me off but I managed to hold on, I fell a couple of times but not all the way.

I gritted my teeth as I finally got to the neck, it was covered with mossy leaves. The dragon moved right when I was getting a firm grip on one of them and I slipped down it to the end. But I took in a deep breath and continued climbing.

Suddenly, rain started hitting me like a ton of bricks, like it was trying to stop me from killing the dragon, but I didn't let it. I finally got to the head, it's scaly head. I could see a small pinpoint of light from it's very center, I climbed over to it and I came to my senses.

I wasn't being controlled anymore, I was myself, and I looked down at the dagger in my hand. It was glowing brightly and shaking in excitement of what was about to come.

The dragon growled and tried to shake me off, but I dug into it's scales to not fall down to the ground. Then I plunged my dagger into the head of the dragon.

Time seemed to stop.

I couldn't hear anything.

I could feel anything.

I startlingly found myself falling.

Down.

Down.

Down I went.

Watching the dying dragon above me, writhing in pain and then falling. Falling down towards me. It stopped when it hit the ground, I however, never hit it. I fell down, into black.

I heard distant screaming and I wondered who it was. I found that I couldn't breathe, and when I tried dust made me cough. I couldn't see and I shut my eyes because the dust made them sting.

_[Dis is it. I'm finished. I'm gonna die here in dis dark hole.]_ I thought glumly. _[I never told Gwizdo I loved him. Maybe Rain'll tell him.]_ I thought, even more so. Then, I felt myself leaving consciousness.

But right before I passed out, I felt pressure trying to lift me up again.

**D** **H**

When I woke up I was in the same room I was in when I was in comatose. I thought it'd died! Well, apparently not. I groaned, my head hurt.

"She's awake!" I heard Zaza scream, I gritted my teeth, her screaming hurt my head more. My friends rushed into the room. "Nyla!" Rain said excitedly, unfortunately the pain in my head put me in a slightly bad mood.

"Rain, shut up. My head's killin' me." I grumbled, that only made her smile more. "You've been asleep for a week! You can't blame us for being happy." She said, I sighed. "Yeah, I guess." I said, then they all hugged me.

I smiled despite my pain. "Okay, okay. I wanna talk ta Rain, alone. Shoo." I said to the others, they all left and I turned to Rain. "Rain." I said smiling, she nodded telling me to go on. "I don' know how ta tell him." I said pitifully, she sighed with a grin. "Well, if you can't. I will!" She said cheerfully, then she ran out of the room.

I ran after her, I was wearing only my light blue night gown which went just above my knees and under it I only had my dark blue short shorts. When I ran after her I knew how she felt when she ran after me, except then she didn't catch up to me.

I grabbed the back of her brown shirt and we both tumbled down the stairs, quite painfully. I landed next to her and I quickly covered my hand over her mouth. "Don' you dare breathe a word." I hissed at her, she nodded hesitantly.

I released her and went over to the guys' table, with Rain following behind. "Oh, Gwizdo." Rain said, I looked over at her making sure she didn't even think about telling him.

"Nyla wanted to show you something out by that tree." Rain said, my eyes widened. _[Why dat lil'. . .]_ I thought, but I stopped my thoughts before they became too severe. "Yeah, uh, sure." I said awkwardly, no going back now.

After I changed into something more suited for the weather of the Fall, me and Gwizdo went out to the tree. I won't lie, I was scared, but I had planned it all out in my head.

"I have a question." I said, but I heard Gwizdo say the exact same thing at the same time. We both chuckled. "Ya go first." I said, wondering what his question was. "Nah, ya go." He said, obviously it wasn't a question that he wanted to ask.

"Ya go, now I'm not asking." I said firmly, he laughed again. "Alright. Uh, I was wonderin', um. If, I dunno, if ya wanna go somewhere. Maybe for a ride in The Saint George, or somethin'." He said, I smiled. "Like, a date?" I asked, he flushed, and he looked adorable.

"Uh, yeah. Sure, I mean, if ya want it ta be." He said, nervously glancing over at me. I caught his blue eyes. "Yeah, I do." I replied, unable to wipe the foolish grin off my face. He grinned back.

"Really? Great! Uh, what was your question?" He asked, I almost forgot about my question. "If you could take me on a ride." I answered cleverly, he nodded with a laugh.

"Then lets go!" Gwizdo said excitedly, I laughed while nodding my head. "Yeah, lets go Gwizy." I said, as we went to the launching point of the flying machine. He turned and looked at me

"Gwizy?" He asked, a little confused. I blushed light pink. "Jus' a nickname. Or, I could call you Geone." I said, teasing him with his "fake" name that he used in Baby Love, Oh, Baby Love.

Now it was his turn to blush, he chuckled nervously. "Uh, Lian-chu told ya 'bout dat?" He assumed, I shook my head. "No, Jeanneline told me." I lied, and he rolled his eyes.

We both got in the flying machine, I would have to petal but I didn't mind. Then Gwizdo pulled the rope, releasing The Saint George from it's suspending position. I didn't even know how they got it on that rope. And we were off!

I petalled my hardest and soon my legs were automatically doing it on their own, I looked around myself. The fluffy white clouds passing by, the small uninhabited islands floating lazily, The Snoring Dragon Inn with the colors of the sunset illuminating it from behind.

Wait.

Sunset!

"It's gettin' late." I informed Gwizdo, he nodded absentmindedly.

Then he turned The Saint George back to The Snoring Dragon Inn, and we landed. It was a bit rough but we didn't tip over or anything like that. We got out and left The Saint George to get the shelter of the inn, but before we got to the doors Gwizdo grabbed my hand and turned me around to face him.

"Nyla, I-I, uh. I gotta tell ya somethin'." He said nervously, I cocked my head one side curiously. "What?" I asked innocently, his face was very serious. "I. I think I might be in love with you." He blurted out quickly, his pale blue eyes avoided my brown.

I smiled, and then I kissed him squarely on the lips. That kiss lasted for a while, and bluntly, I didn't mind the least that it stole most of the air in my lungs. When it ended we stared into each other eyes, in the silence of it all coming together.

"I do too."


	9. A Wedding and A Baby

A.N: I don't own Dragon Hunters, only my OCs and the plot. Sorry, short chapter, enjoy though!

**D H**

It'd been almost about three years after the Goblin Castle incident.

Lian-chu and Rain finally let the secret out that they too were in love, and before we all knew it we were planning the wedding. _Our_ wedding to be exact. We would have a double wedding of course, it saved time and energy.

I won't lie, me and Rain fought over the tiniest little detail like animals. I guess we both wanted this to be perfectly perfect for our double big day. But at least eventually we got it all settled in the end, right?

Gwizdo had gotten me the most beautiful pale blue sapphire ring with a dark blue center that was so dark it was almost black. And Lian-chu had gotten Rain a bright green emerald ring with an almost purplish center. Both of us found ourselves often lost in the exotic jewelry like our fiance's eyes. Then the day decided started creeping up on us, I found myself getting nervous, but a certain excited nervous.

I thought about how no one was going to walk me down the aisle, not like I would go back to that portal and bring back my gambling addicted and drunk father just to walk me down the Aisle.

If he was still alive even.

I startlingly found myself staring at the ceiling of the attic, thinking about my past life. My brother, Jeremy. My mother, Donna. My father, Jack. Even my past best friend, Grayly. I wondered how they were doing without me in their lives, what they were doing, if they thought about me like I was doing with them.

If that world and this world had the same timezones, which I didn't know, Jeremy would be tucked in bed. Grayly would probably be at some night party. Donna would have passed out from the long day. And Jack, he would probably be losing most of the family savings.

The wedding, was the very next day.

I wondered how time could go so damn fast, probably something to do with being busy with planning and things. Rain had tired herself out from crocheting veils and she even made small elbow length white gloves.

We both had tight fitting white dresses that went out a bit at the bottom, except mine had a long cut going up my left leg.

I looked over at Gwizdo, he insisted on sleeping at least in the same room with me. Though I told him sternly that only on the wedding night I would start sleeping in the same bed with him, but I liked the idea about the same room.

I closed my eyes and thought deeply, I was so nervous about the wedding tomorrow. Then the rooster crowed, my eyes widened open in shock. I hadn't slept at all! It was my wedding!

I got up, I knew I wasn't going to sleep and I wasn't even sleepy. I started getting ready, for the reception, all the tables and the center pieces. The napkins, and the food.

Then I focused on myself for a change.

I slipped into my tight fitting dress, though it was quite comfortable. I put my thin white gloves on, and my ring over it. Rain got up around that time and just, attacked my hair.

She pulled, tugged, pushed, she nearly burnt my head off! When she was done with the torture she showed me a mirror, I gaped at myself. I looked the most beautiful I had ever looked before, I smirked when I pictured Gwizdo's face when he saw me.

I thanked Rain and then before we knew it, it was time to walk down that long, long aisle. A single tear fell down my cheek, a happy one though. A very, very happy one.

I didn't even listen to the preacher's words, I was too busy staring into Gwizdo's eyes. But I did hear the words at the end. "You may kiss the bride." But before Gwizdo got the chance to I kissed him first.

After the wedding we all went inside to enjoy the reception, and the guys got us a surprise. It was the meat of a Gegene Electric! It was amazingly tasty, considering these dragons had electricity running through them and weren't a very good dragon to battle. But if you cooked it just right, delicious!

After the reception we took an evening ride in The Saint George, admiring the beautiful sunset. I had my arms around Gwizdo's middle as he was piloting the small airplane, I had my head resting on his shoulder and I was gazing at the sun.

Going slowly down to, wherever it went when it turned night. Then the wedding night, well, I'm really not going to go into that right now. Or ever, for that matter. But, later that night, I stared at the ceiling.

I wondered some deep things, my head did that from time to time. Asking the big questions, the "what ifs", the deepest darkest corners of my mind had a way of getting to me.

I asked myself a question, what would have happened if my father didn't gamble me away? What if I hadn't met Gwizdo? What if, what if. I hated myself for being so cleverly curious and unable to leave things where they were. I sighed, then I let it go. But right before I went to sleep I had to give myself another question.

What now?

**D** **H**

It had been two short yet fun years since me and Gwizdo got married. A lot has changed in that short time.

First off, me and Gwizdo moved to a house of our own. Nice little one storied house with a healthy black horse that Gwizdo got for our first anniversary, I called him Jam, because he looked almost black purple like blackberry jam. I still did dragon hunting, but not as much as I used to.

Then, something very amazing happened. It happened while I was on a hill that I climbed sometimes, there was a very pretty patch of wildflowers and I picked some of them.

All the sudden I was being thrown to the ground by a bone crushing hug from my best friend, Rain. I tried to pry her off, and I was eventually successful.

"Rain, what are ya doin'?" I asked, confused why she was so clingy at that moment. "I have exciting news!" She exclaimed, jumping up with a giant grin on her face. "What? Tell me, what?" I asked, excited. I thought I knew was the "exciting news" was, but I couldn't be sure.

"I'm pregnant!" She squealed. _[Yep, I knew it.] _I said in my mind, while hugging her. "Dat's wonderful! What do ya an' Lian-chu hope fer?" I asked with a happy smile on my face, she looked down guiltily.

"I, uh, haven't told him." She mumbled, I sighed. "How are ya goin' to do it?" I asked, soon to be regretfully, she smiled sheepishly at me. "An' I'm guessing ya want me ta help?" I assumed, she nodded brightly.

"Alright, fine. Do ya have anything?" I asked hopefully, I wasn't the best with words. Though, I had my moments. "Well, I could just tell him I'm pregnant." She said, I smiled. "Sounds good, great actually. Tell me how it goes." I said brightly, she laughed and then we went down to me and Gwizdo's house.

We had a nice lunch and then Rain went off to tell Lian-chu that he was going to be a father.

I laid in the bed of me and Gwizdo's room. And I asked myself a question. Repeating, over and over and over and over and over.

Am I happy, or am I envious of Rain?


	10. Will and Bella

A.N: Second to last chapter, and the next one's really more of an epilog so, enjoy! I don't own Dragon Hunters I only own my OCs and the plot.

**D H**

That question was on my mind for the entire night.

Did I want a baby? A little person? A child? Something to nurture, and to call me mom? I didn't have an answer until that morning, and I decided to tell Gwizdo. I of course, never really had a way of speaking.

"Gwizy?" I asked, eating my breakfast slowly. He grunted telling me that he was listening, because he was eating, and I looked up at him. "I think, um, I want a kid." I said thoughtfully, unfortunately it startled Gwizdo so much that he spit out his water in a spray.

"A kid?" He asked, wondering if he heard me right and I nodded. "Yeah, a child, one of my own." I said, smiling my sweet little smirk at him. He always loved that smirk.

"Well, I, uh. Sure, I mean, as long as yer ready. Yer gonna be havin' it, anyway." He said stutteringly, and I laughed a bit. "Actually, I was thinkin' 'bout adopting." I said, and he grinned.

"Dat's wonderful! I mean, I was an orphan to ya know." He said excitedly, I nodded. "Lets get ta work." I said jumping up, he looked at me a bit puzzled. "We have ta get a baby room together." I explained, it suddenly clicked in his head and he jumped up too.

We got to work instantly. We sawed, we hammered, and we got our hands worn raw until they were at least a bit bloody. In the end we came up with a good little kid/baby room, since all we knew is that we wanted a boy but the age was a little iffy. We had a good night's sleep and in the morning I woke up early and ran to Rain and Lian-chu's house.

When I got there I ran past the sheep in front for their early morning graze and rapped on the door. It was soon opened by Rain, and she looked at me shockingly. "What's the matter, Nyla?" She asked, looking me over to see if I was hurt or any sign of why I had been running over here like the Devil was at my feet. I tried to catch my breath, and when I did I grinned over at the puzzled woman.

"Me, an' Gwizdo. Are goin' ta adopt a boy!" I said excitedly, and she smiled over at me. "That's brilliant! What age? Where are you going to adopt? Do you have everything ready yet?" She asked question after question, and I answered them truthfully.

We didn't know what age, we were going to adopt at the same orphanage that Gwizdo was raised in and we made a whole room yesterday. She started getting out crocheting supplies and started to make a small dark blue hat.

We started to think of names for Rain's baby, for we didn't know if it was going to be a girl or a boy.

Eventually it got dark, and I made the long walk back to me and Gwizdo's house. It got dark quickly and when I reached the house I found that Gwizdo had been looking for me

"Gwizy! I'm over here!" I shouted up the small hill that he was searching, he turned around and started jogging over to me. "Nyla! Ya scared me, ya know." He said smirking, and I chuckled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I was jus' tellin' Rain 'bout us gettin' a lil' boy." I said, he nodded. "We'll leave in da mornin', get all packed. It'll be 'bout two days 'til we actually get dere." He explained, I nodded excitedly and ran into the house. I heard the distant laughter of Gwizdo at me, but I ignored him and packed my messenger bag.

Then, I forced myself to sleep so I could be all excited tomorrow without yawning.

**D** **H**

The next morning we were soon flying in The Saint George the 2nd. The original Saint George had crashed on one of our hunts, but I helped Gwizdo make The Saint George the 2nd. I watched the clouds as we passed them towards the orphanage, but it soon got dark and we had to stop at an inn.

We slept quickly and got up swiftly the next morning, right as the sun got up. We continued our journey until we reached the small building, and we landed. Everything seemed to slow down but only for me, I saw all these children running around, and I noticed that most of them in groups. Gwizdo went to fill out some things saying that we were to adopt a boy and so and so.

While I went around, and I watched the children to see their habits. I found that most were running around and playing tag or something, but one boy caught my eye.

He was sitting a little high up in a tree, and drawing. I could tell it was drawing because writing would be short and quick, while he was doing drawled out long scrawls. He had dark black hair and intent looking bright grey eyes. I went over to him, then I climbed up the tree to where he was, and he glanced over at me interestedly.

"What cha doin'?" I asked friendlily, he smiled. "Drawing." He answered shortly, I looked over at his little book that he was drawing in. "What are ya drawin'?" I asked, scooting over to him. He showed me his drawing, it was a Lamotrek Rampant, and I smiled.

"Ya like dragons?" I asked, and he nodded quickly and instantly. "What's yer name?" I asked sweetly. "Will." He replied simply, I nodded. "Well, Will, guess what." I said, with a smirk on my face. He grinned. "What?" He asked, so curious. "I'm a dragon huntress." I said proudly, his eyes widened. "Really?" He asked, and a bit skeptically.

I nodded. "Yep. My husband's a hunter too." I said, he looked at me with admiration. "Are you here to adopt someone?" He asked, I nodded. He looked down in thought. "I'm thirteen. They all tell me that no one's ever gotten adopted when they turn thirteen." He said sadly, I pitied him though it was true what he said.

"Will, would you like ta come home wit' me an' my husband?" I asked softly, his eyes lit up like Christmas tree lights. "Oh, yes! Yes, I would!" He said excitedly, I grinned. But then his eyes faded again. "But, what about my sister?" He said, somewhat to himself.

My eyes widened. "Sister? Well, we only have one room." I said in thought, he looked up with sadness, my eyes brightened. "But I'm sure we can fix dat." I said, and his eyes lit up again.

After that we got down from the tree and I introduced Will to Gwizdo, Gwizdo instantly clicked with the small boy. Then we found Will's sister, Bella. She had the same grey eyes but she had dark brown hair, and she was seven years old. It took a little talking, but not much to get Gwizdo on board with the idea of adopting both Will and Bella.

And we flew off in The Saint George the 2nd. By the end of the day Bella was asleep next to Will, while I powered the flying machine. We stopped at the inn that we had stopped at while going there, I carried Bella while Gwizdo carried Will.

We slept and then next morning we woke the children and we flew off again. Will wanted to power The Saint George the 2nd, so I let him while me and Bella looked at the floating islands we were passing.

Then we came to our house, it was sunset. We landed in front of it and we carried our sleepy children into their room. There was only one bed but we quickly got a hammock, and Will was happy with it.

They quickly fell asleep and so did me and Gwizdo.


	11. Blessed

A.N: Last chapter, more of an epilog, since it's short. The next story I'll be doing is a Gregor the Overlander story, it'll be called Scarred Hearts. Well, enjoy this last chapter!

**D H**

It'd been about a year since we adopted Will and Bella.

Will was very interested in becoming a dragon hunter, while Bella liked reading once we taught her she was instantly hooked.

Rain had a cute baby girl, they named her Lucky. She looked like her mother but had her father's deep and thoughtful black eyes, she was already very adventurous and curious.

Pepper and Hector had stayed at The Snoring Dragon Inn, but we soon found out that they were an official couple, and Pepper was pregnant with a little baby dragon.

As Will got older he went on hunts with me and Gwizdo, and then he went on hunts by himself mostly. He liked hunting, and even more so liked the money he was earning, it seemed like he got that from both of us.

Bella found herself working as Will's assistant, since she liked the different dragon species in the books that we gave her, and even though she didn't like hunting she was very important to the hunts.

Me and Gwizdo are both proud of them.

Finally Pepper had her little dragon, and we found out it turned out to be a boy. Pepper and Hector named him Nexter. He had wings like his mother but had his father's blue fur.

Everything turned out happy, I was happy with my family. My friends' families were happy. So, you can truly understand when I say, I wish it would've ended there. But unfortunately, if I said that it did. I would be telling a lie.

One day while Bella and Will were on a hunt, and Gwizdo was visiting Lian-chu, I heard a knock on the door. I got up and I opened the door. What I saw outside of it, I will never forget until I day I die. Even though it had been so long, I still recognized him.

Jack.

Also known as, my father.

"It's been so long. Do you remember your old man?" He asked, smiling a sad pitiful smile. I nodded slowly and unsurely, my mind had gone blank and was on autodrive.

"I'm sorry what I did a long time ago, but I found that man and payed him a lot to get to you. I've heard about your business in dragon hunting. Well, I'm here now, we can go back, and you can forget this ever happened, okay?" He said, I knew then that the timelines in both of our worlds were different. I shook my head, absentmindedly looking down in the process.

"No. I like it here, Jack. I have a job, friends, Jack. I have a husband, an' two beautiful children. I can't go back now! I'm sorry, but it's jus' too late." I said, my voice rising rather then getting softer. He wasn't the boss of me anymore, he just wasn't.

His face hardened, then quickly he ran up to me and grabbed me. He put a hand over my mouth and tried to drag me away from my house. I struggled my best but he was stronger then me, but suddenly he let go of me and I turned to see why. Gwizdo had knocked him out, Gwizdo had knocked my father out.

"Nyla! Are ya okay?" He asked concerned, I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I am." I said, I got back up on my own two feet. I looked between my husband and my father nervously. "Gwizdo, meet. My father." I said, Gwizdo's pale blue eyes widened in shock.

Then, it spilled out. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Starting from that very fateful day that my father, from a different world, betrayed me to a man from this world. And surprisingly, Gwizdo believed me. My father eventually woke up, but backed off.

He told me that my mother had died in a car crash and my brother hadn't been in contact with my dad for a while. I had invited my dad to stay in this world, with a little contact with me, but not my family.

He declined it, and there I was. Standing in the doorway about to say goodbye to the one person that was held accountable for the worst, and the best thing that happened to me.

"Did you miss me? Or even think about me?" He asked, I sighed heavily and looked down. "I don' remember. It was a long time ago, Jack. But I remember da hate, I hated you fer a while." I answered honestly, he nodded understandably.

"I wish I could change yer mind, Nyla. To go back to the real world, and have a normal life." He said quietly, I couldn't say anything to that. "They thought you'd ran away. That's what I told them, your mother didn't listen and she searched for you." He said, I couldn't take all this sadness overwhelming me.

"Goodbye Nyla. I hope you found something in this, hellish world." He said, and I found it slightly amusing.

What he found hell, I found paradise.

Then he turned around and left, just.

Walked away.

I stood there, in that doorway, looking out towards where my father went. I stood there until the rain started, and soaked me until my clothes were heavy, and the water was blinding my vision.

It wasn't until Gwizdo came out and pulled me back into the house. Will and Bella were oblivious to what had just happened, me and Gwizdo decided it would be best for them not to know. I didn't eat dinner, I went straight to bed with Gwizdo by my side.

At first I dreamt about blackness, sadness, and anger. But then I dreamt about my family. My wonderful husband, my brave son, and my sweet daughter.

And I realized that I had something that most people often just dreamed of, and I felt blessed.

Purely, utterly, blessed.


End file.
